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Critics Consensus: Technically proficient yet creatively moribund, Free Birds begs unfortunate comparisons with the dim-witted fowl that inspired it.
Critic Consensus: Technically proficient yet creatively moribund, Free Birds begs unfortunate comparisons with the dim-witted fowl that inspired it.
All Critics (85) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (16) | Rotten (69)
Free Birds is not (sorry) a turkey of a film. But it doesn't really soar terribly high either.
A lot of agreeable kookiness compensates for the ramshackle script in this tale of turkeys traveling back in time to prevent becoming an essential part of Thanksgiving dinner.
The movie's animal rights, vegetarian message should go down easily with politically correct parents - at least until they choke on the offensive depiction of 17th-century turkeys as face-painted, headband-wearing native Americans.
Everything about "Free Birds" feels perfunctory, from its generic title and holiday setting to its starry voice cast and undistinguished use of 3-D.
A stale turkey hash that heaves a lot of ingredients in the oven but never turns on the gas, a frantic attempt to come up with an animated film built around Thanksgiving Day traditions.
A forgettable - and occasionally borderline offensive - animated tale of turkeys trying to take back Thanksgiving.
Free Birds, an animated buddy comedy that evokes the daffiness of classic Chuck Jones cartoons, is no turkey.
Free Birds is a funny film.
Free Birds is quite forgettable and generic for your liking. If your kid still insists, let him or her watch it. Meanwhile, you can dream of a scrumptious meal, while taking a short nap in the theatre.
In the end, this freeform history lesson is a flightless foul.
Much of the better comedy is wasted on the younger viewers, with complex historical and cultural references kids just won't get.
Any given scene from Free Birds seems more like a YouTube parody of stupid children's films than a piece of something that real human beings put together with honest artistic intent.
It's understandable that pretty much everyone absolutely hated this film, the main reasons being: its premise is laughably horrible, it isn't politically correct, and many find it humorless. I understand these points, and many of them are valid, but I think some credit is due to this holiday film. Though a lot of this is slipshod, there were a lot of great jokes. The humor in this is really great, blending jokes for both adults and children alike. It's really precocious in its handling of the material and made me laugh a good many times. Between those jokes, however, are really offensive depictions of Thanksgiving era turkeys as Native Americans, complete with feathers behind their heads and war paint on their faces. The premise, well executed in most of the film, still leaves some giant plot holes and a whole lot of unneeded absurdity. The worst of this is evidenced by the fact that the Pilgrims are presented as villains who blame the turkeys for their many misfortunes. The turkeys are actually to blame, since this is a kid's movie, but how do the humans know this? It's great for kids, because it's at least funny, but it's not intelligently presented.
Super Reviewer
A mediocre, run-of-the-mill animation destined to be rapidly forgotten by everyone, not only for being mostly unfunny and full of clichés but also because it holds few to no surprises, making sure that every joke is explained and leaving almost nothing to our imagination.
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The greatest turkey movie of all time. Good animated movie! I'm very relieved to finally see an animated movie made just for fun and without feeling the need to add an unnecessary message or plot or emotional attachment. There was only one instance where they tried to get you emotionally involved, it didn't work but it didn't disturb me either. This film is sweetly entertaining. Camera angle used in story telling keeps the pace of film on very good note. Animation is done creatively. You would feel that you are simply watching a typical Hollywood movie. Even animated choreography justifies it. Overall, it has all ingredients of a good film, drama, emotion and entertainment. Please go and watch with your kids. They will enjoy as well as you. After years of fruitless warning of his farmyard brethren of the coming Thanksgiving doom, Reggie the Turkey finds himself spared as the annual Pardoned Turkey. However, Reggie's easy life is disrupted by Jake, a fanatic turkey who drags him along with the insane idea of going back in time to make sure turkeys are not part of the first Thanksgiving. Through foolhardiness and luck, the pair manage to take an experimental time machine to do just that. Now in 1621 at the Plymouth colony, Reggie and Jake find themselves in the middle of a turkey clan's struggle for survival. In doing so, their preconceptions of the world and themselves are challenged forever in a conflict from which the world will never be the same.
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